By Guest Columnists Omid Bagheri, MPH and Julianna Alson, MPH 1.8 Billion. Imagine how that amount of money could be invested instead into healthcare, housing, education and other social determinants of health. Instead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that we’re spending that much on fatal and non-fatal injuries by law enforcement,...

The Texas v. US lawsuit, in which a Texas federal judge found the ACA unconstitutional last month, has now been appealed. See our December 18th blog post for background. This ruling, if upheld, would devastate the Medicaid expansion, marketplaces such as the WA Health Benefit Exchange, pre-existing condition protections, health care delivery system reforms, public health and...

Adult hearing benefit Thanks to the 2018 Legislature, Apple Health (Medicaid) will restore hearing aid coverage for adults with hearing loss of 45 decibels or more in their better ears (children already have coverage). Cochlear implants, replacement and repair will also be covered. Clients age 21 and older who meet specific hearing loss criteria may...

Adapted from a summary by the National Health Law Program Last Friday, Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas ruled that the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. He went even further, striking down the entire ACA because, he opined, the mandate was not “severable” from the rest of the...

In the 2018 elections, Washington voters elected Dr. Kim Schrier, a pediatrician championing quality health care as a fundamental human right, to the U.S. House of Representatives, District 8. At the state level, we sent 5 new Democrats to the State Senate and 12 new Democrats to the State House, increasing Democratic majorities in both...

NoHLA is an active participant in Protecting Immigrant Families (PIF), an impressive national campaign comprised of thousands of advocates across the country that helped lead the charge against the administration’s harmful Public Charge proposal. When the public comment period for the proposed rule closed on December 10, over 216,000 comments were delivered to the Department...

NoHLA Executive Director Janet Varon was honored to receive the 2018 Marcia Howery Award from the Washington Healthcare Access Alliance, “in recognition of demonstrated, long term commitment and contribution to healthcare access serving Washington’s vulnerable patients.” WHAA is the association of free clinics throughout the state. Marcia Howery was a pioneering free clinic director, mentor, and advocate who worked...

Under the proposed public charge rules, one of the groups who may be prevented from receiving a green card is individuals with HIV/AIDS.   This could potentially worsen the HIV/AIDS epidemic by forcing people living with the condition to forego treatment. The two largest federal funding sources for healthcare for people living with HIV/AIDS are Medicare...

An estimated 1.4 million transgender individuals in the U.S. could be impacted by the Trump Administration’s latest announcement that it wants to narrowly define gender based on genitalia at birth. This short-sighted idea has yet to be formally proposed; it is being considered as the Department of Health and Human Services works to establish a...

Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) once provided hopeful innovation waiver opportunity to progressive states, but now serves as another tool for the Trump Administration to undermine the ACA. New guidance from the Department of Health & Human Services and the Department of Treasury encourages use of private insurance, association plans and short-term...